Infant car seat anchoring assembly with retractable foot

Abstract

In one example, an infant car seat has a car seat body, a first anchor, a second anchor, and a foot. The car seat body defines a seating surface. Each of the first and second anchors releasably locks to an anchor of a vehicle seat, is coupled to the car seat body, and is configured to move relative to the car seat body between a retracted position and an extended position. The foot is coupled to the car seat body such that movement of one or both of the first and second anchors between the retracted position and the extended position causes the foot to move relative to 1) the car seat body and 2) one or both of the first and second anchors between a stowed position and a deployed position, where the foot is positioned to engage a seat pan of the vehicle seat in the deployed position.

1 . An infant car seat, comprising:
 a car seat body that defines a seating surface for a child;   a first car seat anchor and a second car seat anchor, each being configured to releasably lock to an anchor of the vehicle seat, each being coupled to the car seat body, and each being configured to move relative to the car seat body between a retracted position and at least one extended position; and   at least one foot coupled to the car seat body such that movement of one or both of the first and second car seat anchors between the retracted position and the at least one extended position causes the at least one foot to move relative to the car seat body and causes one or both of the first and second car seat anchors to move between a stowed position and at least one deployed position, wherein the at least one foot is positioned to engage a seat pan of the vehicle seat in the at least one deployed position.   
     
     
         2 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein the infant car seat is configured such that movement of one or both of the first and second car seat anchors causes a movement of the at least one foot that is different from a movement of one or both of the first and second car seat anchors. 
     
     
         3 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the car seat body defines a recess therein that extends into one or both of a lower end and a front end of the car seat body;   the at least one foot is configured to be received in the recess when the at least one foot is in the stowed position; and   each of the first and second car seat anchors are disposed outwardly from the recess when the first and second car seat anchors are in the retracted position.   
     
     
         4 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second car seat anchors are spaced from one another so as to define a space therebetween, and the at least one foot is configured to translate within the space relative to the first and second car seat anchors. 
     
     
         5 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein the infant car seat is configured such that, when one or both of the first and second car seat anchors moves to a first one of the at least one extended position, the at least one foot moves a first distance, and when the one or both of the first and second car seat anchors moves from the first one of the at least one extended position to a second one of the at least one extended position, the at least one foot moves a second distance, less than the first distance, or does not move at all. 
     
     
         6 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein the infant car seat is configured such that one or both of the first and second car seat anchors moves a first distance from a first position to a second position, thereby causing the at least one foot to move a second distance, less than the first distance. 
     
     
         7 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one retractable foot is configured to rotate in a direction that is opposite from a direction in which at least one of the first and second car seat anchors rotate. 
     
     
         8 . The infant car seat of  claim 1 , further including at least one shaft that couples one or both of the first and the second car seat anchors to the car seat body; and
 a pair of gears having a driver gear rotationally fixed to the at least one shaft; and   a driven gear that engages the driver gear and that is rotationally fixed to the at least one foot, wherein movement of one or both of the first and second car seat anchors between the retracted and extended positions causes the driver gear to drive the driven gear so as to move the at least one foot between the stowed position and the at least one deployed position.   
     
     
         9 . The infant car seat of  claim 8 , wherein the driven gear has a larger diameter than the driver gear. 
     
     
         10 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . An infant car seat, comprising:
 a car seat body that defines a seating surface for a child;   a first car seat anchor and a second car seat anchor, each having a latch that is configured to releasably lock to an anchor of the vehicle seat, and each of the first and second car seat anchors being coupled to the car seat body;   at least one second latch that is configured to engage a frame of a stand or a child carriage so as to couple the infant car seat to the frame; and   an actuator that is configured to actuate the latch of the first car seat anchor, the latch of the second car seat anchor, and the at least one second latch.   
     
     
         16 . The infant car seat of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one second latch comprises a hook that projects downwards from a seat back of the infant car seat. 
     
     
         17 . The infant car seat of  claim 15 , wherein the actuator comprises a handle that is disposed adjacent a back end of the car seat body on an underside of a seat back of the infant car seat. 
     
     
         18 . The infant car seat of  claim 15 , comprising:
 a first link operatively attached to the latch of one of the first and second car seat anchors such that movement of the first link causes the latch to move between locked and unlocked positions;   a second link operatively attached to an actuation surface of an actuator such that movement of the actuation surface causes movement of the second link; and   a coupler that couples the first link and the second link to one another, and that is configured to reduce an amount of force, a stroke length, or both the amount of force and the stroke length needed to actuate the latch of the one of the first and second car seat anchors.   
     
     
         19 . The infant car seat of  claim 18 , wherein the coupler comprises a first end and a second end that are spaced from one another along a select direction, the first end is pivotably coupled to the car seat body such that the second end of the coupler is pivotable about a coupler pivot axis. 
     
     
         20 . The infant car seat of  claim 19 , wherein an end of the first link and an end of the second link are attached to the coupler such that the end of the first link is spaced between the coupler pivot axis and the end of the second link. 
     
     
         21 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . An infant car seat comprising:
 a car seat body that defines a seating surface for a child; and   at least one car seat anchor coupled to the car seat body, the at least one car seat anchor being movable relative to the car seat body between a retracted position and at least one extended position,   wherein the at least one car seat anchor is retainable in the retracted position via at least one retaining member.   
     
     
         27 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one retaining member is disposed on the car seat body. 
     
     
         28 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one retaining member is disposed on the at least one anchor. 
     
     
         29 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the car seat body defines at least one pocket, the at least one anchor being positionable in the at least one pocket when in the retracted position. 
     
     
         30 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one car seat anchor is pivotably coupled to the car seat body, and is rotatable between the retracted position and the at least one extended position. 
     
     
         31 . The infant car seat of  claim 29 , wherein the at least one retaining member is a rigid protrusion disposed in the at least one pocket. 
     
     
         32 . The infant car seat of  claim 29 , wherein the at least one retaining member is biased into an extended position into the at least one pocket via a biasing member, the at least one retaining member being depressible by the at least one car seat anchor as the at least one car seat anchor is moved from the at least one extended position to the retracted position. 
     
     
         33 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one retaining member is at least one biasing member. 
     
     
         34 . The infant car seat of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one car seat anchor is rotatable about a shaft that couples the at least one car seat anchor to the car seat body, and the at least one biasing member is at least one torsion spring positioned proximate a coupling of the shaft and the at least one car seat anchor to bias the at least one anchor towards the retracted position. 
     
     
         35 . The infant car seat of  claim 34 , wherein the at least one car seat anchor is a first car seat anchor and a second car seat anchor disposed at opposite ends of the shaft, and the at least one torsion spring is a first torsion spring positioned proximate a coupling between the shaft and the first car seat anchor and a second torsion spring positioned proximate a coupling between the shaft and the second car seat anchor. 
     
     
         36 . The infant car seat of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one biasing member is a tension spring affixed to both the car seat body and the at least one car seat anchor, the tension spring being positioned to bias the at least one anchor in a direction of the retracted position. 
     
     
         37 . The infant car seat of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one biasing member is a compression spring biasing the at least on car seat anchor against movement towards the at least one extended position. 
     
     
         38 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one retaining member is a magnet disposed on at least one of the car seat body and the at least one car seat anchor. 
     
     
         39 . The infant car seat of  claim 26 , wherein the at least one retaining member provides resistance against movement of the anchor from the retracted position to the at least one extended position, wherein the resistance is surmountable by a user moving the anchor towards the extended position with a manual force.